Metal-shank button.



flaw By I. DE FRANClSCI.

METAL SHANK BUTTON.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 30. 19H.

1 1 99,057 Patented Sept. 26, 1916.

I Ill-*7 [NVENTOR 4 A/lameys IGNAZIO DE FRANCISCI, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

METAL-SHANK BUTTON.

Application filed September 30, 1911.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, TGNAZIO DE FRAN- CISOI, a subject of the King of Italy, residing in the city ofNew York, borough of Brooklyn, county of New York, and State of New York, have invented a certain new and useful Metal-Shank Button, of which the following is a specification.

This invention is a metal shank button.

The object of the invention is to substantially increase the strength of the metal eye or shank forming a part of the button, and, furthermore, to produce an ornamental appearance on the face of the button. In the manufacture of buttons of this type, it has been customary to pass a pin, headed at one end, through the button from the front to the rear thereof, and to bend the unheaded end of the pin which extends beyond the rear into an eye; but buttons produced by this method have been found unsatisfactory for the reason that the eye is not strong and it is liable to be bent or pulled out of shape, thereby rendering the button useless.

This invention involves the employment of a double shank inserted from the rear to the front of the button, and riveting the head of the double shank on the front of the button, thereby producing a button having an ornamental finish on the front thereof and possessing increased strength, for the reason that the shank is united permanently to the button.

This invention embodies, also, a button provided with a central opening, a metal eye secured to the rear face of said button, the shank of said eye extending through the opening of the button to the front there of, and a head integral with said shank, said head and the eye operating to clamp the button between themselves.

In the accompanying drawings I have illustrated different practical embodiments of the invention, but the constructions shown therein are to be understood as'illustrative, only, and not as defining the limits of the invention.

Figure 1 is a side elevation of the complete button. Fig. 2 is a plan view of the button head or blank. Fig. 3 is a section through the button head, on the line 33 of Fig. 2. Fig. 4 is a side elevation of the wire bent to form the eye or loop and the shank. Fig. 5 is a section on the line 5-5 of Fig. 4. Fig. 6 is a section through a Specification of Letters Patent.

7 button with the ends of the shank Patented Sept. 26, 1916.

Serial No. 652,080.

protruding beyond the front of the button. Fig. 7 is a section through the button showing the ends of the shank formed into a head. Fig. 8 is a View similar tp Fig. 5, showing another cross-sectional form of the shank.

The button, A, is composed of suitable material, and. it may be of any desired shape or contour. The button is provided with a central aperture or opening, Z), and this aperture extends from a countersunk por tion, a, on the front of the button to and through the rear face thereof.

To the button is permanently secured an eye, (Z; having a shank comprising two members, e, f, said members being parallel and producing a shoulder, g, at the point where the shank joins the eye. The member, 0, is preferably round in cross section, whereas the member, 7", is preferably concavo-convex in cross section, as shown in Fig. 5, member 7 being channeled or grooved so as to fit snugly against member 6, whereby the shank may be readily inserted through the substantially cylindrical aperture, 5, of the button. The cross sectional contour of the shank may, however, be of any other desired form, such as-is shown in Fig. 8, wherein the parts, 6, f, are formed similarly to the shank of a cotter pin.

The ends of the shank are spun down or upset against the front of the button to produce a head, it, which head is integral with the shank, and this head fits snugly within the countersunk portion, 0, of the button.

The complete two-part button, as illus trated in Fig. 1, is constructed as follows: A button'of any preferred form is employed, and this button is provided, preferably with the aperture, Z), and countersunk portion, 0. A piece ofsuitable material, such as brass or aluminum wire, is cut to the proper length, and it is first bent so that a loop or eye, (Z, is formed about centrally of the wire, after which the ends, e, f, of the wire are brought together and subjected to pressure of a suitable tool, thereby producing the shoulder, g, and bringing the shank members, 6, 7, into parallel relation to each other. The shank is inserted into the aperture, 5, of the button until the ends of the shank protrude beyond the front of said button and until the shoulder, 9, engages with the rear, (4, of the button. The button, with the shank protruding beyond the front face, is secured within a suitable tool and is held in a stationary position close to a forming tool which is re-. volved at high speed, say about 14:00 revolu tions per minute. lVhile theforming tool is thus revolved, the protruding ends, 6, f, of the shank are upset by said forming tool, and at the same time this tool molds or fashions the two ends of the shank into a head, it. The head substantially fills the countersunk portion, 0, ofthe button, and the spun or upset head, it, cooperates with the shoulder, 9, of the eye in clamping the button betweenthem. The tool forms the head in tegral with the shank and leaves no line of division perceptible to the eye, thereby pro ducing a button having its shank permanently united thereto, said buttonhaving an ornamental finish and possessing great strength.

The ordinary metal shank button is constructed so that one end of the eye is unattached to the button, the result of which is that a certain'strain or pull will bend the wire sons to destroy the loop. The shank of my button is much stronger for the reason that the two ends of the wire are united to produce the head, and accordingly, the shank will stand a much greater strain .or pull.

Besides this advantage, the head is integral with the two ends of the shank so that no line of division .is perceptible to the eye, the head being upset and formed so as to give an ornamental appearance to the face of the button.

No claim is herein made to the method of making the button heretofore described, for the reason that said method will form the subject matter of separate applicationto be hereafter filed.

Having thus fully described the invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. A button provided with a transverse.

aperture, and a retaining member comprising a metallic strip bent to form a doubled shank passing through said aperture, said shank terminating in an-eye positioned in abutting relation on one side of the button and a rounded head on the other side of the button, the head being formed from a free.

end portion of the doubled shank so as to leave no visible line of demarcation or division which originally defined the members of the shank.

2. rrbutton provided with a transverse aperture, a double shank passing through said aperture, an eye on the shank, said eye being 111 contact with the rear of the button,

and an upset head on the other end of the shank and at the face of the button, said head being integral with both members of the double shank and so formed as to present copies of this patent may be obtained-for five cents eacrnby. addressing thefConxmissioner of members of the double shank and composed of metal formed from the shank and intov the countersink so that the head presents a smooth exposed surface characterized by an absence of the line of division which originally defined the two members of the shank.

41. A button composed of .two elements only, a button body having an aperture therethrou h and a double shank passed through said aperture and entirely through the button proper withthe two legs of the shank in contact throughout the thickness ofthebutton. proper, the ends of the legs-of the shank being upset to form a head,,and

thematerial thereof formed to producea smooth rounded head rendering invisible the I line. of (lemarcationor divisionv which originally defined the. members of said shank, said head being confined within a countersink in the adjacent face of the button proper and exposed beyond such face.

5. A button provided with a transverse aperture and a countersunk. portion surroundingsaid aperture, a retaining member. composed of a metallic strip bent to forma doubled shank, one member of the doubled shank being substantially round in cross sec-- tion while the other member is substantially concave-convex in cross section and is po-- sitioned against the roundmember when the shank is passed through said aperture of the button, said shank terminating in an eye the material of which-is bent to form a shoulder at the juncture of the eye withthe straightportion of the shank, said shoulder being in contact with the bottom of thebutton, and rounded head formed from the endportions of the doubled shank so as to Patents. 1

Washington, D. G. 

